Twenty years on, a few more subtle changes help to keep Honda’s Fireblade near
the top of the pack
.

You’d hope that in this, the 20th anniversary year of the machine that changed superbikes for ever, we’d see something very special for Honda’s new Fireblade. Instead, the talk is more about what the 2012 model hasn’t got and what isn’t new, and all at a time when the Europeans are showing Japan how it’s done for the first time since the Sixties.

Yet away from the headlines, consider this: despite being up to 20bhp short of rivals such as BMW’s S1000RR and the Aprilia RSV-Four, and a generation behind in electronics, it was easy to argue that the 2011 Fireblade was the best superbike for the road. Even as a track bike, for a typical trackday rider rather than an experienced racer the seminal Honda was the weapon of choice, owing to its balance and usability. Anyway, how often is 175bhp not enough? There aren’t many race tracks, let alone roads, where you could use the difference.

It’s that usability which Honda has enhanced with the 2012 model, along with some visual back-pedalling after criticism of the old bike’s blunt-nosed looks. What you get, then, is limited to new suspension, wheels and frontal bodywork, a jazzed up dash and revised engine management.

The suspension changes always looked promising, because the latest Showa Big Piston Forks are now fitted. These have transformed other sports bikes such as the current GSX-R Suzukis. At the rear, the 2012 Fireblade sports a new Showa shock designed along the lines of the spectacularly good Öhlins TTX shock with its better damping control.

The 12-spoke wheels are stiffer in some planes, less so in others, a rebalance of strength that Honda says improves rider feedback, while the bodywork is more conventionally aggressive – if generic – than the outgoing model. Just as important, it also improves cooling, which was an issue with race versions in the past couple of years.

The engine remap doesn’t change outright power or torque; rather it is designed to provide a more linear and smooth response to the twistgrip at lower revs and smaller throttle openings, aiding the bike’s already outstanding road manners.

A few laps of the spectacular Portimao circuit in Portugal confirmed the effectiveness of the enhancements and underlined the Fireblade’s core values – this, surely, is the easiest bike on which to go very, very fast. I was a little surprised at the lack of outright grip from the Bridgestone B20 tyres, though it’s likely they’ll compensate with good wear characteristics on the road. But even this served to highlight the bike’s superb controllability because, even with the back end sliding and scrabbling for grip, especially when driving out of turns, the overall sensation was of control and exploration rather than fear.

Later rides on racing tyres confirmed ferocious acceleration out of corners thanks to reserves of torque at lower revs that outshine its rivals – thrust where it’s useful, rather than at the bragging end. The new forks and Honda’s race ABS system (called C-ABS), which apportions front and rear brake effort automatically, mean you can brake incredibly late then peel the bike into a turn with outstanding stability and so much feedback you never feel you’re going to lose the front end. It’s hard to think of anything that will stop and turn more quickly and safely.

So 20 years on, the new Fireblade is not the great leap forward that the original was. Instead it’s matured into a fiendishly fast motorcycle you can trust on many different levels, in terms of lap times, build quality, dependability and benchmark speed, in a whole range of real-world situations.

THE FACTS

Honda Fireblade

Price/on sale: £11,300 (+£700 C-ABS)/now

Power/torque: 175bhp @ 12,000rpm/83lb ft @ 8,500rpm

Top speed: 180mph (est)

Fuel tank/range: 3.9 gallons/170 miles (est)

Verdict: Never mind the electronics, feel the feedback. This is still a premium choice